Nephilim
by scrumtiouslynervouscollector15
Summary: This is a post season 3 AU, when Vanessa is kidnapped by Lucifer and no one can find her Ethan and co. run into a young woman looking for the exact same people they are, the question is, why exactly is she looking for them? rated M for safety
1. Chapter 1

The fresh snow against the ruined shell of Evelyn Poole's mansion was truly a sight to behold. The stark white against the black scorched wood and stone that remained was incomparable. It was a long shot to hope that anything survived the blaze that had consumed the imposing structure, but it had been over 2 months since Vanessa Ives had been kidnapped and they were all growing desperate, no more so than Ethan and Sir Malcolm. Searching the ruins of the once impressive mansion was the last hope they had of discovering where the Fallen Angel had taken her. Sir Malcolm and Ethan had spent weeks scouring the city of London for any hint to her whereabouts while the others researched possible locations for them to search next, they came across many Nightcomers and Vampires during their searches, however none had the information they sought. Mr Lyle had rushed back from Egypt as soon as he had received word of the young woman's disappearance to help however he could, he and Catriona would spend hours cataloguing everything they knew to try and find some connection while Dr. Seward provided a sounding board that provided a fresh look on things they already knew. Victor, bless his soul kept everyone in good health so they didn't collapse in the middle of the day, as expected Ethan and Sir Malcolm were the hardest ones to convince to rest and eat. More than once Victor had to use Vanessa and the fact that she wouldn't want them to neglect their health for her sake to get them to cooperate.

They were all here now, helping search the ruins, Dr. Seward, Catriona Hartdegen, Victor Frankenstein, Mr. Lyle, Sir Malcolm, and Ethan, this was their final hope and everyone agreed they needed all eyes possible to ensure they didn't miss anything. Though they all would do whatever they could to find Vanessa none of them were so frantic in their search as Ethan and Sir Malcolm, for they had lost her once already and were not eager to repeat the experience. However they were not the only ones searching the remains of Evelyn Poole's home that night.

"Do you really think we'll find anything here?" Victor asked Ethan

"I think we've spent the last 2 months running around like chickens with their heads cut off and this is the one place we haven't picked apart yet." Victor opened his mouth to retort when a clatter of stone sounded from across the rubble. "Who's there? Show yourself!" Ethan demanded, the response from their fellow intruder was not what they expected.

"Alright, Alright, I'm coming round, but if any of you bastards shoot me I will be Very cross with you all." The voice spoke as its owner rounded a section of wall that hadn't yet collapsed. The….woman, it seemed was still very young, barely twenty by the looks of it, her black hair was piled into a messy bun atop her head with stray curls falling out to frame her face. Her skin was pale and her face was delicate in its features, her eyes were a rich golden brown, the color of freshly toasted bread from the bakers. She wore black trousers tucked into dark brown leather boots, there was a sheathe strapped to her left thigh housing a small dagger. Her white button-down shirt was covered with a burgundy red corset and tucked into her pants. The whole ensemble was topped off with a black pea coat. She held her hands up in a mock of surrender as she approached the group. There was a ghost of a smile on her face as she watched them all take her in, not expecting an actual human being to be the one to come around the corner. The longer the silence went on her smile transformed into a smirk and she was about to comment on the silence when Sir Malcolm, always one for opportunity broke it.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"My name is Elizabeth. Elizabeth Reid, and as for what I'm doing here I'd say that's fairly obvious as you all appear to be doing the same as I."

"And what do you know of this place?" he inquired. Elizabeth threw her head back with a laugh and replied,

"Oh you aren't getting it out of me That easily, you've asked me your questions and I answered so now I shall ask mine, what are you all hoping to find here?" Ethan opened his mouth to answer but Mr Lyle beat him to it

"We are here in hopes that we would find some clue as to where our friend has been taken. She was kidnapped you see, by the very same monsters who used to reside here." Elizabeth's brow furrowed as she considered the new information.

"Well, I'm afraid you won't find anything here, there's nothing left, anything of value has already been taken." Ethan no longer content to let events unfold as they were voiced his opinion.

"If you were here looking for the same thing we were then maybe you can help us, the question is why are You looking?" He met Elizabeth's gaze as he asked his question and saw her gaze harden and her hands tighten into fists.

"They took my father from me, I'm going to take their lives in return, if you'll allow me, I'll help you however I can so long as when we find them, you leave them to me" Ethan allowed a humorless smile to grace his face as he replied,

"Oh I can Definitely do that." Elizabeth gave him a cruel grin as she held out her hand.

"Then we are in accord my good man, now then I'm going to assume that you have a base of operations where we can plan further? Since we aren't going to find anything here, looking into Evelyn Poole and her connections seems like a good start." Ethan shook her hand as he introduced himself and the others,

"Indeed we do, my name is Ethan Chandler, these are my friends, Sir Malcolm, Dr. Frankenstein, Mr. Lyle, Dr. Seward, and Catriona Hartdegen." Elizabeth smiled as she nodded her head at each member of the group as Ethan introduced them,

"Pleased to meet you all, now before I can help you I must return to my home and gather everything I have in regards to these monsters so we can combine what we've got, give me your address and I will meet you all there."


	2. Chapter 2

Elizabeth walked as quickly as she could to Grandage Place, which was not made easy due to the large sack full of journals and maps she carried on her back. As she walked through the streets of London she received many looks from passersby and she made sure to smile and wave at all of them. After what seemed like hours but was really only 45 minutes, Elizabeth arrived at the address Ethan gave her and went to knock on the impressive metal door. It was Victor who opened it.

"Ah, Ms. Reid, we've all been awaiting your arrival, please come in," he said as he waved her inside. Once inside the house Elizabeth could hear raised voices coming from deeper inside the house and they seemed to be arguing. Elizabeth raised her brow and asked,

"Not all are happy about my involvement I presume?" At the directness of her question Victor seemed at a loss for words for a moment but he quickly recovered,

"We're all just worried is all, Miss Ives is very dear to us all and we want to bring her home safely." Elizabeth smiled at him and nodded,

"I do hope I can help you, I will not deny my offer to help isn't entirely for selfish reasons, those Things came into my home while I was out and attacked my father and I Will have my due." As she spoke her brows scrunched in anger and her lips tightened into a thin line. After a moment she shook herself and took a deep breath, "Now then, onto the matter at hand, shall we?" Victor smiled at her and nodded and lead her into the study where everyone was waiting. They heard the tail end of the argument as they came into the room,

"-don't even Know her how can she be trusted?" all heads whipped in their direction as Elizabeth and Victor entered the room. Elizabeth walked over to the table and pretended she hadn't heard Dr. Seward's blatant mistrust of her.

"This," she began as she hefted the bag off her back and onto the table to empty its contents, "is everything I have managed to learn over the last 5 months about the creatures we are hunting, the maps are marked with every place I've had recurring encounters and the journals are filled with any and all notes I could make of the creatures. I tried on several occasions to follow them but I was always spotted before I could learn anything of Value." As she spoke she pulled out various books and maps and laid them out on the table for everyone to look through. Catriona hung the maps along the walls next to their own while Mr. Lyle began reading through the books, Elizabeth noticed Ethan approaching her followed by Victor out of the corner of her eye so she left the bag where it lay and turned to face him. "I suppose you still have questions Mr. Chandler?"

"Yes Elizabeth I do, you said they took your father, how did they do it?" At his question Elizabeth's gaze broke from his own and her eyes began to water; she crossed her arms over her chest and took a deep breath before responding.

"I had gone out to do some grocery shopping, we had put it off for days and there wasn't a single crumb in the house. I was gone for a few hours stopping at various shops and arranging for delivery when I couldn't carry it myself. When I came back-" her voice trembled and she closed her eyes to prevent her tears from escaping, "When I came back, the door had been broken in, the entire house was a shambles and there was blood on the walls and broken glass everywhere, one of those things was laying dead in my fathers study amidst a pool of blood. I spent hours walking through the house calling out for him hoping he was hiding somewhere and they hadn't gotten to him, but I never found him." she opened her eyes and met Ethan's gaze once again.

"How did you end up at Evelyn Poole's mansion?" Elizabeth huffed a laugh and wiped under her eyes before she replied,

" I've spent the last five months tracking the things I found in my home all over England, the trail finally went cold in Bristol so I came back to London to start all over again. I'd been back in the city for 3 weeks when I got the idea to research any sudden disappearances of well known women who dabbled in the occult, thus leading me to Evelyn Poole, it was a long shot that after such a long time that I would find anything, but I had no other options. As it turns out, searching Evelyn's home was not a total loss, I may not have a new lead but I do have people with whom I share a common interest." Though her eyes were slightly red from her tears her gaze was made of solid steel and her jaw was set in determination.

"I'm sorry they took him from you Elizabeth, but we will make sure they never hurt anyone again."

"I'm going to hold you to that Mr. Chandler, now that I've bared my soul in front of you all, tell me more about the woman they took from you, and why you think she's still alive." Ethan huffed a humorless laugh and scratched his beard while Victor decided to spare the poor man from recounting the night his beloved went missing.

"I do believe I can answer those questions Ms. Reid," he turned to Ethan "and I do believe it is time for you and Sir Malcolm to depart on your nightly hunt is it not?" Ethan nodded and smiled gratefully at Victor who returned his smile. Ethan bid them both goodnight before leaving them to continue the conversation on their own. "Would you like to sit down?" Elizabeth made her way to the couch in the nearby corner instead of responding, where she made herself comfortable. When Victor got settled beside her she turned to face him and bade him to continue his tale. "A little over two months ago, our friend, Vanessa, went out to the shops to do some Christmas shopping… she never came back."

"That still doesn't tell me why you think they've let her live all this time, why is she so special?"

"We don't think, we know, and the why of it is too long a tale for tonight, but they have been after her for longer than you or I have even been alive." Elizabeth wanted to ask more questions, wanted to sit here for however long it took to hear the tale in its entirety, but she knew that Victor would be no more forthcoming that night. She tilted her head at him before exclaiming,

"You love her," at Victors prepared protest she shook her head, "no I don't mean you Love her I mean you love her as I did my father." A look of amazement came over her face, "she must be a remarkable woman to inspire such love and loyalty."

"That she is, and your father must have been a remarkable man." Elizabeth let loose a quiet laugh and shook her head a little before she replied,

"Not many people would agree with you. He wasn't always a good man, and I couldn't really tell you now that he ever became one but… he loved me and I him." She gave Victor a sad smile and placed her hand over his on his knee, "one day you must tell me the whole story of Vanessa Ives and how she managed to touch you so deeply" Victor flushed at the touch of her hand before he gave a smile and,

"I will, I promise." Elizabeth's smile became one of happiness as she exclaimed,

"Good! Now it is very late and I must return home, tomorrow I will head to the records office and see what properties Evelyn had in her possession before she passed and try and find who owns them now." She began to stand from the couch and Victor followed not quite yet ready to be done talking with her yet.

"Would you mind terribly if I accompanied you? The others will no doubt be busy pouring over what you've brought, and I am not looking forward to arguing with them about missing meals." Elizabeth laughed at her correct assumption that this bunch could be stubborn as mules when they had a mind to and said,

"Of course you can Victor but only if you promise to call me Elizabeth." She gave him a teasing smile as she held out her hand for him to shake. Victor took her hand after a moments hesitation and replied,

"As you wish….Elizabeth." At his use of her name she smiled and made her way to the front door of the house only to be met by Dr. Seward standing in front of it.

"I don't know what game you're playing girl but mark my words, if Vanessa is hurt because of you I will show you suffering the likes of which you have never seen." Elizabeth threw her head back with a cackle as she responded,

"Oh that was a very good attempt to threaten me, well done Doctor, however I have no interest in Miss Ives and I can assure you she is safe from me, the things that took her are not." Dr. Seward took a few steps until she was nose to nose with Elizabeth before she responded,

"There's still something you're not telling us and I will find out what it is." Elizabeth's eyes darkened as she leaned even closer to the good doctor and could feel her breath on her face,

"You are welcome to try. Have a wonderful night, Dr. Seward." And with that Elizabeth walked around Dr. Seward and made her way out of the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Victor was walking to the address on the card Elizabeth had left with him the previous night, so they could both head to the local records office and investigate the holdings of the late Evelyn Poole. As he rounded the corner and the flat came into view Victor found his palms were sweating a little and his heart was doing skips in his chest. He shook himself a bit and made his way to the door and knocked twice. After a few curious bangs and curses Elizabeth opened the door with her raven curls flowing about her face and a pink blush on her cheeks.

"Victor! So sorry but I wasn't keeping track of time and I am running a bit behind, would you like to come in a sit down for a bit while I finish getting ready for the public eye?" Victor stammered a bit as the sight of the young woman so adorably flushed and nervous sent a little jolt of happiness into his heart,

"O-of course Elizabeth," she smiled at him and stepped back while opening the door to allow him through, the flat wasn't the smallest he had ever seen but it seemed stuffed to the brim with papers draped over every flat surface and books piled waist high around every corner, "How did you and your father manage to live here?" Elizabeth's smile faded and the light in her eyes dimmed at his question.

"We didn't….Live here I mean, we have a house outside the city, still within reasonable riding distance, only a few miles but…I can't bear to be in that house without him. I walked out the night they came, and I haven't been back since." She finished with a poor imitation of a smile.

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea," he tried to apologize but she waved him off and walked deeper into flat, as he trailed behind trying not to trip or knock anything over, "Just where exactly did you get all these books?" Elizabeth turned back and gave him an impish grin,

"Most of them were acquired legitimately, some however had to be liberated from their homes."

"Ms. Reid!" Elizabeth laughed at Victor's exclamation and he was shocked at how much he wanted to hear the sound again. She gestured to a small sofa in the corner of the room they were in for him to sit on while she went to wrestle her hair into submission.

"Make yourself at home, feel free to look around if you like." With one final smile she walked away, presumably to her bedroom to finish her hair. After a few minutes Victor stood and made his way around the room, occasionally opening one of her books or looking at one of her papers. They all seemed to be focused on one thing, monsters that attacked in the night leaving nothing behind but the blood of their victims. Some were first hand accounts, some were pictures others had drawn from descriptions, but almost every paper had what Victor assumed to be Elizabeth's handwriting all over it, the books and papers were her own notebook, every single piece laid out for her to look at whenever she wished. Victor was brought out of his musings at the sound of footsteps approaching him from behind, he turned to see Elizabeth with her hair somewhat corralled into a messy bun atop her head. She wore, just like the night before, trousers tucked into her boots, a white button up with a black vest instead of corset this time, and her black coat was slung over her arm. She raised her brow and asked him,

"Did you find anything interesting?"

"Not really no, but I would like to know how you manage to read all of these books and make all of these notes." she gave him a teasing grin and replied,

"I live on catnaps and tea, woken up more than once to ink stains on my face that everyone loved to laugh at but no one wanted to tell me about."

"Then let me promise here and now to tell you about any ink stains I happen to see on your face." Elizabeth's face took a serious look and she replied,

"I will hold you to that Victor." However she could only hold her face for a few more seconds before her mouth began to tremble and she giggled, while Victor smiled at the sound. "Now then, shall we make our way to the office?"

"Yes we shall." Elizabeth led him back to the front door and put her coat on as soon as they stepped out. Victor offered Elizabeth his arm and once her coat was on with a coy smile she accepted.

It took them fifteen minutes to walk to the records office and they were both nervous as they walked through the doors, because if there was nothing here for them to find then they were all back at square one. Elizabeth approached the nearest clerk to make her inquiry.

"Hello, I'm here to see if you might still have the records for the late Evelyn Poole? She died a little over 3 years ago." The stout, balding man in front of them looked them both over for a solid minute before he responded,

"And why might you be inquiring about the late Mrs. Poole so long after her death young lady?"

"She was a distant relative on my mother's side," Elizabeth began to wring her hands and her eyes teared up, "I've recently lost my father you see and since my mother left us shortly after I was born I've never met any of her side of the family." uShe cleared her throat a little and let a few tears drop before continuing in a choked whisper, "I'm just trying to find out if I have any family left at all." She gave the clerk a trembling smile as he looked slightly sympathetic to the young woman's plight before he replied,

"Anything we have will by now be in the archives, which means that it will be at least three weeks before we can tell you anything, fill out this request form and we will notify you if we find anything." Elizabeth filled out the paper as quickly as she could before handing it back to the man while thanking him for helping and making her way back to the door with Victor, once they were outside Elizabeth cursed.

"Damn it! Three bloody weeks! What are we going to do in the meantime?" The tears which had been present for the clerk's benefit were now absent and her cheeks were flushed in frustration. She ran a hand over her face and pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to calm herself down.

"Well our first priority should be to head back to Grandage Place and tell everyone the new developments, however I think you and I should take a walk and try to clear your head." He held out his arm and Elizabeth heaved a bone weary sigh before she took it and let him lead her away from the building.

 _Unknown location_

"So you really expect me to believe you aren't part of this _Monster?_ " Vanessa spat from her position against the wall. Her hands were chained to the wall and given only enough room to eat the stale crust they brought each day. There was no light in the room they were being held in, only brief flickers when the door was opened. It was cold and damp and a miracle she hadn't fallen ill from it all.

"Vanessa I swear to you I have no idea what's going on, I've spent the last 2 years trying to live my life in peace." Alexander pled from his similar position against the opposite wall.

"You don't know the meaning of the word, all you do is bring pain and chaos wherever you go."

"You're right, but it doesn't mean that I'm involved in this mess. I'm as much a prisoner as you are. Hell I was here before you were!"

"And when you're free? Will you begin tormenting me and those I love once again? Mark my words creature I will tear your throat out myself before I allow that to Ever happen again." Alexander heaved a sigh and rubbed his face rattling the chains that bound him to the wall before he answered her,

"No, Vanessa, believe it or not I have found my peace and happiness in this world and I only wish to get back to it. That is assuming my dearest Brother hasn't gotten to her first."

" _Her?_ You've managed to entangle another innocent in this mess?" Her voice was filled with choked rage and if she could reach him she would kill him now.

" _I_ did not bring her into this all on my own Vanessa, and I only wish to keep her away from it for as long as I can. She's only 2 years old." His voice tapered off into a tear-filled whisper as he spoke his last sentence. His pleas had piqued her curiosity, she certainly didn't Believe him when he said he wished no harm on the girl but she was concerned that a _child_ was being brought into this _game_ the brothers had been playing since the time before time.

"Who is she? To you, I mean who is she to you?" she heard him take a shaky breath before he opened his mouth and spoke a sentence that shook her to her very core,

"She is my _Daughter_."


	4. Chapter 4

Victor and Elizabeth had been walking for almost 15 minutes and had ended up walking in a nearby park. Elizabeth had been silent since her outburst at the office and Victor could tell from her stony expression and crossed arms that she had not calmed down in the slightest. He decided to take a more direct approach before Elizabeth could go further down the rabbit hole in her head and directed them to a small bench underneath some trees and sat her down.

"Ms- Elizabeth, you don't need to get so worked up over this, he didn't say they didn't have anything just that it would take time for them to find out." Elizabeth wasn't looking at him and was instead choosing to glare into the distance so he reached over and uncrossed her arms so he could take her hand in his. "Tell me what's really bothering you." He implored. Elizabeth looked at their hands before she took a deep breath in and looked him in the eyes.

"This is the closest I have ever gotten to these monsters the entire time I have been hunting them. I would track them for days or until I physically collapsed under the strain. They would always either slip away from me or notice me and I would have to run start all over. You remember I told you Evelyn's mansion was my final hope? I wasn't kidding, they knew to keep an eye out for me by then and were better at hiding from me. I hadn't seen them in 2 weeks when I finally came back to London with my tail between my legs, and it was another 3 before I managed to find out about Evelyn. If this doesn't work out, then the last five months of my life have been _wasted_."

"You have not wasted anything Elizabeth, you've done more in the last 5 months than most people do their whole lives and without you we would still be at square one. One thing I don't understand however is why you're so desperate to find them, most people would have mourned their father and tried to move on, but you've worked yourself to exhaustion hunting them, why?" Elizabeth broke eye contact with him at his question and she had to swallow the lump in her throat before she could answer him.

"My father was everything to me, he was all I had and they took him from me. The one constant solid presence in my life that I could depend on….vanished, like smoke. There was so much that we meant to do, so much we put off because we thought we had forever to get it done, and I don't know if killing these creatures will bring me peace but I know I'll feel a hell of a lot better knowing they can't take anyone else." Tears had built in her eyes as she spoke and when she blinked they began to fall. Victor wasn't made for comfort, but he was going to try so he took his free arm and wrapped it around her shoulders and Elizabeth followed his lead and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Tell me one thing you never got around to doing with him, and I'll do my best to help you do it myself." Elizabeth loosed a wet laugh as she replied,

"He promised to teach me dancing, as a child I stood on his feet as he waltzed us around the room and when I got older he said he'd teach me to do it on my own." Victor smiled as he leaned his head down to hers to whisper,

"Then you are in luck, for dancing is one of my specialties." Elizabeth smiled and raised her head from his shoulders to look at him and even with tears streaking her face, her eyes and nose red from tears, she was beautiful.

"I shall take you up on your offer Victor, however we do have some rather crucial information to share with your colleagues and I do believe my little fit has taken up enough of our time." She stood and offered him her hand which he gladly took and placed upon his arm when he was next to her.

"Then let us make our way back to Sir Malcolm's."

 _Grandage Place_

When Elizabeth and Victor made their way into the study, Ethan, who had been brooding over the fire with a tumbler of whiskey in his hand made his way over to them.

"Did you find anything?" Elizabeth answered his question as Victor was worrying that his friend was once again going to have to be forced to eat something.

"Yes and no, it will take them three weeks to uncover Evelyn's records and there was no guarantee they'd find anything. I'm sorry Ethan, where are the others?" Ethan's mouth thinned to a tiny line and he downed the rest of his glass in one quick swallow before he responded,

"Don't be sorry Elizabeth, Sir Malcolm went out to get supplies and Dr. Seward went to see some of her patients, Mr. Lyle and Catriona went to the museum with your journals to see if there was anything in the archives. You said it would take three weeks? That should be plenty of time."

"Time for what?"

"To teach you to shoot. You didn't have a gun on you when we met and they're just about the most effective method we have when it comes to killing those things." He finished with a grin tugging from one side of his mouth. Elizabeth laughed as she raised a hand to her forehead with a wry grin and asked,

"So, when do my lessons begin Teacher?" Ethan answered her grin by letting his own take over his entire face as he pulled his gun from its holster and started walking towards the basement,

"Right now." Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him as she turned to Victor,

"Can you tell the others when they get back?" Victor nodded at her,

"Of course I can. Please try not to shoot Ethan as Vanessa would be rather upset with you." Elizabeth laughed as she turned to follow Ethan into the basement and she replied,

"I will do my best." Victor made his way to the kitchen to make Ethan something simple to eat as the man wouldn't entertain eating or drinking anything that couldn't be finished quickly while Elizabeth quickened her pace to catch up with Ethan who was setting up bottle targets for her. When she had caught up and was standing a few feet away from the bottles she asked,

"Are you sure we should be doing this indoors?" Ethan smirked at her as he offered her his revolver and replied,

"Why of course it is, taught the good doctor to shoot down here a few years back, and since there's no one to inquire about the noise this time round we shouldn't be interrupted." Elizabeth took the revolver and adjusted her grip to be more comfortable as she asked,

"So, how do I do this without killing anyone on our side." Ethan came to stand next to her and adjusted her stance and aim as he began his instruction,

"Make sure to aim for the torso, you have a better chance at hitting your opponent than if you were to aim at the head or limbs. Don't jerk your arm when you aim or else you could fire the gun without meaning to," Elizabeth took her aim carefully as Ethan continued, "When you're ready to fire take a steady inhale and as you begin to exhale squeeze the trigger-Gently you're not trying to strangle it." She took a deep breath in and fired off two shots in quick succession that in turn shattered two of the glass bottles. "You're a natural!" Elizabeth gave him a smile as she told him,

"Thanks, I'm not sure that's a good thing." Ethan laughed and asked her,

"You don't like shooting?" She shook her head as she took her aim again,

"I think I like it a little too much," she fired off another shot and shattered another bottle, "Do you think we could go somewhere else and do this with different targets and guns?" Ethan grinned at her as he replied,

"Let's master this one first, it's probably the one we'll use the most when we're fighting these things. After two years we could all use some practice so you'll have a lot of time to perfect it." Elizabeth turned her head to look at him as she asked,

"It's been two years since they've bothered you?"

"A little over but yes, after our last big confrontation we managed to find some peace."

"What happened Ethan? The full story this time if you can manage it." Ethan's brow furrowed as he looked down at the ground before beginning his tale.

 _It was over, the darkness had been defeated and they day had been won… but Vanessa was dead. Dracula vanished after Ethan revealed himself to be holding his beloved's corpse. He was slowly making his way down to the rest of them, careful not to dislodge Vanessa from his arms. Tears were abundant amongst the group, however none of them were as distraught as Ethan. He was looking down at Vanessa as if she'd fade into dust before his eyes, in a way she already had. Sir Malcolm was the first of them to get control of his limbs and make his way over to Ethan who was standing in front of them. He opened his mouth to speak but the words would not come. There were no words for this, his child in the arms of the man she loved with every fiber of her being, lifeless. He managed to, slowly, reach his hand out to touch Vanessa's forehead. He needed to feel the cooling skin under his palm to convince himself this was real, that the battle was won but the woman they fought for was lost. And that's when it changed, as his hand made skin to skin contact Vanessa did something Remarkable, she took a breath._

"And what happened after that?" Ethan had not taken his eyes off the floor as he recounted the day he almost lost the most important person in the world to him.

"We took her home and Victor patched her up, Sir Malcolm and I didn't leave her side until she opened her eyes a few days later. She couldn't remember much of her time while she was turned but she did say that she heard a voice speaking to her when she d-died. She said it told her that her time had not yet come and that it was up to her to break the cycle."

"The cycle?" Ethan took a shaky breath as he scrubbed his face with his hand and began pacing the basement floor.

"Those monsters have been chasing her for longer than we could ever imagine, they want her to be the Mother of Evil and help them conquer heaven, they haven't succeeded, so they keep chasing her all throughout her lives until and tormenting her and those she loves so she'll give into them."

"And for two years after… _That_ , she was given peace?"

"Aside from a few nightmares about her memories from her time with him yes. For two amazing years we were all given peace." Elizabeth's brow furrowed as she focused her attention on the gun in her hand, running her fingers along the length of the barrel and the chamber. She seemed to be considering something when she took a deep breath and stood in front of Ethan interrupting his pacing.

"I'm sorry your peace was taken from you; I'm sorry that you've all been dragged back into this and I promise you Ethan I will do whatever I can to help bring Vanessa home to you all." Ethan regarded the young woman standing in front of him with determination in her eyes reminding him of the one he was desperate to have back in his arms again. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he replied,

"It's not your fault Elizabeth, but thank you all the same." He clapped her shoulder with his hand as his smile grew, "Now I think we can call an end to the lesson for today and go back upstairs so Victor can shove another sandwich and broth down my throat." Elizabeth cackled as they began to walk back to the stairs and she asked in a exaggerated whisper,

"He is a bit of a mother hen isn't he?" Ethan snickered with her as he replied,

"That he is kid, that he is." The two shared a smile as they made there way back upstairs to face Victor in all of his mother hen glory.


	5. Chapter 5

After Victor made Ethan eat an entire sandwich and a cup of broth the three of them settled themselves in the parlor and waited for the rest of their group to arrive so they could plan their next move. Elizabeth was going over a few of her notes that had been left behind and explaining them to Victor while Ethan sat in front of the fire with a glass of whiskey. This went on for approximately 20 minutes before they heard the door open accompanied by the thud of Sir Malcolm's boots on the floor as he made his way to the parlor.

"Everything we should need for the next few days should arrive tomorrow morning, did you find out anything useful?" Elizbeth answered him as she fiddled with the piece of paper in her hands,

"Yes and no, but I'd rather not repeat myself three times over, would you be alright with waiting until everyone else joins us?" Sir Malcolm released a sigh from his very bones as he replied,

"Am I to take that to mean you found nothing then?" Elizabeth shook her head and replied,

"No you impatient thing, it means that I don't want to reiterate this and would rather wait for everyone before I share what Victor and I learned." Sensing an impending argument Ethan decided to intervene,

"It'll be three weeks before we know anything for sure; we need to plan in the meantime so we can be ready as soon as we get word." Elizabeth huffed at Ethan's interruption but was ignored by Sir Malcolm as he turned his attention to Ethan,

"I'll make further arrangements tomorrow, can you see to our newest member being properly outfitted?"

"She is right here and would appreciate it if you didn't talk about her like she wasn't," she scrunched her nose as she continued, "and remind me to never speak in third person again." Both Ethan and Sir Malcolm gave a quirk of their lips at the statement while Victor made no show of hiding his smile.

"But of course, Elizabeth are you alright with accompanying Mr. Chandler tomorrow?" Elizabeth gave a grin as she replied,

"Of course I am Sir Malcolm, now that you are up to speed shall we begin preparations or should we wait for everyone else?"

"We should wait, no sense in repeating ourselves is there?" Elizabeth huffed through her nose as she placed her hands on her hips, but before she could open her mouth Victor interrupted,

"Then might I suggest eating something while we wait?" Sir Malcolm scowled at the young doctor reminding him of his less than stellar eating habits while Elizabeth and Ethan shared a smile.

 _A few hours later_

Once Victor had cajoled Sir Malcolm into eating something and everyone had returned from their daily activities, they all gathered in the parlor to plan their next steps.

"So how do we narrow down the search in the likely event Evelyn owned more than one piece of property?" Dr. Seward asked

"Process of elimination, we know they like seclusion so they won't be anywhere public or close to town; I recommend splitting into teams and doing the bare minimum of investigation beforehand so we don't risk tipping them off, and don't also end up going in blind. Once we narrow it down to one or two we hit them together." Elizabeth answered

"And why are we supposed to trust _**your**_ recommendations Ms. Reid, after all we barely know you and it was a very big coincidence that you ran into us the other night," before Elizabeth could defend herself Seward continued, "and perhaps an even Bigger coincidence is the fact that we receive our first actual break no less than 48 hours after making your acquaintance. Almost cause for suspicion wouldn't you agree?" Victor interrupted before Elizabeth could make a sound,

"That is quite enough Dr. Seward, Elizabeth has been nothing but helpful since we met her." Elizabeth put her hand over his arm before he could continue in her defense and spoke,

"Thank you Victor, but I am more than capable of defending myself." She looked at him and gave him a small smile of her appreciation and he exhaled before mirroring it. She then turned her attention back to Dr. Seward, "You don't trust me," it was not a question," fine. I will not waste my breath trying to convince you of my intentions, all I will say is this: I went to Evelyn Poole's mansion in a desperate attempt to pick up the trail I lost and avenge my father, and in return I found you all. My father is dead and nothing will change that, Vanessa is alive and while I don't know her they do," she looked to Ethan, Victor and Sir Malcolm in turn, "and they love her. Looking at them when they speak of her reminds me of my father and how much I loved him, and **that** is reason enough for me to help. That kind of love is hard to find; even harder to keep, and because of that I will do **everything** I can to help them." Elizabeth kept eye contact with Dr. Seward throughout her speech and did not break her gaze until the doctor looked down at the table and crossed her arms. Sir Malcolm took it upon himself to revive the conversation,

"Now that that's out of the way, does anyone else have any objections to Elizabeth's idea? No? Then we all agree, over the next three weeks we will prepare ourselves for yet another battle with these demons." Everyone nodded their agreement, even if some did so reluctantly and began to break away from the table. Catriona decided it was time to make her own judgement on the newest member of their little family and grabbed Elizabeth by the arm before she could leave.

"Do you mind if we talk for a bit?" Elizabeth shook her head with a slight smile as she responded,

"Not at all, Catriona was it?"

"Yes, that's the name. Now I have a question for you, do you know how to fence?" Elizabeth laughed as she replied,

"Yes I do, I read about it in a book and pestered my father endlessly until he taught me the basics. I kept practicing what little he did teach me and it has served me well, even if my weapon of choice is shorter." Catriona grinned as she linked her arm through Elizabeth's and began leading her towards the basement,

"Good! It'll give us something to do while we talk." Elizabeth upon seeing where they were headed asked,

"Why does everyone use the basement? There has to be more rooms in this house?" Catriona shrugged as they went down the stairs,

"Don't know." Elizabeth shook her head at her answer as Catriona grabbed two practice swords from the corner and handed her one before walking to the middle of the basement. "Now then, first question, why chase after the monsters you say invaded your home instead of- oh I don't know running for the hills like most people?" Elizabeth took her stance in front of Catriona and raised her blade before she replied,

"After I overcame the shock of losing my father, I was filled with a rage the likes of which I had never experienced," Catriona made the first move, a quick lunge for Elizabeth's middle; Elizabeth parried the move before continuing," I became… obsessed for lack of a better term. I had to know why, why us, why now? Thus began my quest for answers," Elizabeth took the initiative and lunged for Catriona only to be blocked and riposted, "as for why wasn't I afraid I couldn't tell you, all I see whenever I look at those things is red," Elizabeth parried once again and scuttled back out of Catriona's reach to plan her next move, "Does that answer your question?" Catriona moved in closer and Elizabeth quickly lunged causing her to step back out of reach,

"One of them yes, but it's your turn to ask me a question now." Elizabeth huffed a laugh as she and Catriona continued to dance around one another,

"Alright then, why aren't you afraid of the monsters?"

"No points for originality Lizzie but alright. I grew up hearing stories about these monsters from my grandfather, in fact he's why I came to London, he was found murdered in an alley a few years back." She advanced once again and Elizabeth couldn't retreat due to the wall she had placed at her back.

"Who's your grandfather?" Catriona lunged and Elizabeth attempted to parried the move and quickly ran out away from the wall but stumbled over her own feet. Catriona took advantage of the blunder and had her practice blade under Elizabeth's chin before she could regain her footing,

"Abraham Van Helsing." Elizabeth raised her arms in defeat with a smile as she replied,

"You'll have to tell me more of him and the stories he told you but first did you really call me **Lizzie**?!" she spoke the nickname with disgust and Catriona only grinned at her,

"Sure did Lizzie, now what do you say to meeting me for coffee tomorrow so I can regale you with the stories of my childhood?" Elizabeth wrinkled her nose at the nickname once again as she handed over her sword,

"Alright, I have to go with Ethan to be 'outfitted' tomorrow but I can meet you after that." Catriona returned their blades to the corner and replied,

"Excellent!" The two headed back up the stairs and Catriona made her way to the door while Elizabeth went to go find Ethan and set up a time for their outing tomorrow, only to be stopped by Dr. Seward.

"This secret of yours…will it harm Vanessa in any way?" Elizabeth swallowed hard before shaking her head,

"I don't know, but I can tell you that I will do whatever I can to spare her from it. As long as you don't pry no one should ever find out and thus the only one who can be harmed is myself." Dr. Seward searched Elizabeth's gaze for a minute before she nodded once and crossed her arms,

"Good, than you and I have an agreement. We focus on saving Vanessa, nothing else matters. All those skeletons in your closet can stay there so long as you help us bring her home safely." Elizabeth opened her mouth to reply but was stopped at the sound of Victor's voice,

"Elizabeth I was hoping to catch you before you left, I do believe you and I have some unfinished business regarding a certain deal we made?" Elizabeth turned to face him as Dr. Seward took the opportunity to gather her things and leave for the night.

"Deal? What-oh." She spoke as their earlier conversation came to the forefront of her mind.

"Yes our deal that I teach you to dance in the absence of your father. No time like the present eh?" He offered her his arm with a broad smile. She gave him one in return as she took his arm and replied,

"No time like the present."


End file.
